Item: | Tuskbore |
Size: | 4.81 m (varies when camouflaged) |
Type: | Convoy Elephant |
Living: | Yes |
Sentient: | No |
Potential/Current Hazards | Occasional temper; thick hide is too difficult for enhancement surgery |
Required Wear/Weaponry | Saddle, headgear |
Location: | Sishka Compound, East Africa (under Warlord Omogin) |
Reported Anomaly: | Camouflage |
Usage
Tuskbore has been used as a saboteur, assault weapon, siege unit, battering ram, transport, support vehicle, and ambusher, owing to its significant physical strength and disguise capability. It has been used to keep control of foreign interference and maintain a steady flow of income.
Tuskbore's camouflage is frequently used to infiltrate and disrupt U.N./humanitarian operations and lay waste to enemy positions. A favored tactic during assassination missions is to disguise Tuskbore as a derelict vehicle in the target's pathway, then commanding the animal to charge or trample the enemy as it draws near (it is often the former, as the animal rams its tusks into the interior, severely wounding or outright killing its passengers, see attached photo). So far, this technique has contributed to 47 casualties, or 19% of total Item kills.
Peacekeeping convoys ripe with goods and supplies are the prime target for the animal's rampage. When in position, soldiers should board Tuskbore as it changes into a suitable vehicle (usually a Humvee or supply truck) or provide covering fire as it charges into armed enemies. Tuskbore has been trained to avoid valuable entities and materials, becoming incredibly agile in order to prevent wounding them. (Analysts have shown that the animal shrinks into a smaller size when precision is needed.)
Prominent among the elephant's history of service include the killing of 2 high-profile leaders of rebel factions (including Mr. Mikai), the pilfering of $650,000 in total value of stolen goods, the transport of a powerful anomalous entity through fortified enemy territory, the deaths of over 290 soldiers in the November 2014 campaign, and the capture of a major city for four days. Its handlers have largely remained the same since initial capture, as the efficiency of control has been up to 92% under local command's oversight.
The animal resides in a fortified pen with a minimum of 2 m allowance to area and height to accommodate its size. The local warlord has traditionally entrusted the sedation and care of Tuskbore to its village 'shamans', currently Maso Kiganbe. Per the Insurgency's command, another elephant specialist, currently Dr. Mobul, is assigned for proper research and medical support.
Report
Tuskbore is the name of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) of considerable size and strength, able to topple fortified structures of up to four stories in a single charge. The animal possesses a substantially thick skin that can repel small arms fire and light explosives, acting as armor. Its long tusks are naturally durable, but its mass and stopping power appear to grow in prolonged combat, where it is believed that material from objects gored by the tusks are absorbed and reused. Tuskbore's tusks can extend up to 365.4 cm in length and weigh up to 85 kg.
When in the presence of a group of vehicles, especially United Nations and peacekeeping convoys such as that often present in the villages in where Tuskbore was raised and captured, Tuskbore will instantly assume a form similar to vehicles in the area, blending in perfectly without compromising any of its riders (which are transported into the vehicle's equivalent of a driver's seat/cockpit upon transformation).
This camouflage is not merely a visual hallucination, as Tuskbore's mode of locomotion and, indeed, its entire body adopts that of the target vehicle. Its size will also adjust to match other vehicles, allowing it to infiltrate garages of low height clearance and quickly resume its normal form, wreaking havoc inside.
Upon interior inspection, passengers may embark as normal and even operate Tuskbore as a vehicle, though this is discouraged, as the animal becomes aggressive, but it is not restricted as in the case of an emergency. Tuskbore assumes all functions of its imitated vehicle: air conditioning, heating, radio, and attached screens will work (though channels/settings are set to default, or whatever is typical in the area). Any gun emplacements, ammunition, and stored weapons present at the target during transformation are copied on-board (entities and humans are not).
It has been noted that exhaust from Tuskbore's imitation vehicle does not contain harmful particles consistent with regular fuel, and is in fact little more than darkened air that dissipates after a while. The reason for this is unknown.
Tuskbore has been bred as a war elephant by the local warlord, trained to be boarded by militia to harass peacekeeping efforts in the province. It has been involved in terror attacks which required destruction of key structures, such as police stations and, in one particular example, an entire supply base belonging to Somalian authorities.
The following equipment has been requested for usage:
- Aggression enhancer - approved
- Armor plating - denied (Item shows signs of contact rash when armor is worn for mere seconds. The animal's hide is effectively resistant to bullets and explosives. Unnecessary strain is being put onto its handlers to tailor additional protection.)
- Saddle and retractable ladder - approved
- Aggression inhibitor - approved
- Elephant pox vaccine - approved (Item showed symptoms of pox after exposure to █████ ██-███████-███████. Repeated yearly.)
- Item: Monolithic Mask - denied (There is no merit in inserting a sapient mind into a Subject that does not require more.)
- Item: Banner of Lok-ming - denied (No beneficial outcome if a civil strife is successfully seeded.)
- Custom-fit brushes and hygiene kit - approved (Internal exams by Dr. Mobul show debris from previous attacks obstructing the animal's airway; various wounds and parasites.)